Hen s nest



(No Model.)

W. W. RHODES.

HENS NEST. No. 394,397. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

N. PETERS. Fhul-Ulhwraphn. wamngwn, n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM IV. RHODES, OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

HENS NEST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,397, dated December 11, 1888.

Application filed May 3, 1888. Serial No. 272,668. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, YVILLIAM IV. RHODES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster and State of Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hens Nests, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to that class of nesting and hatching devices in which the egg tray or nest is suspended within an inclosed space, the door or gate of the latter being operated by the weight of the hen as she enters the nest or tray, and the inclosure being thereby effectually and securely barred against the entrance of all other fowls.

It is the purpose of my invention to simplify and improve this class of apparatus by rendering the egg tray or nest more stable and providing it with open bearings, whereby it may be easily and readily detached, and whereby also the cost of manufacture is materially lessened.

It is also my purpose to provide a natural and easy ingress for the fowl, which may be utilized as a door or gate after the hen has entered the nest.

It is my purpose, finally, to simplify, improve, and cheapen the construction and arrangement of the several component parts of the structure and to render the operation of the parts more certain; and to these ends the invention consists in the several novel features of construction and new combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, and then definitely pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section taken longitudinally of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when the hen is upon the nest. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of Fig. :2 in the plane w In the said drawings the reference-numeral l designates any suitable inclosing structure of any proper size and configuration, the form shown being substantially rectangular. At one end this inclosure is provided with a removable cover, 2, which may be either hinged or sliding. At the other end of the inclosed chamber 1 is formed a step, 3, above which the open end of the chamber rises to a suitable distance, said step being placed about midway of the depth of the box 1. \Vithin the box or chamber 1 at the end most remote from the open end is placed the nest, consisting of a box, pivotally mounted on trunnions 5, placed near the rear end of the box. Near the forward end thereof are formed or mounted similar supports, 0, which rest in open bearings in the ends of levers 7, fulcrumed upon pins 8. These levers extend to the open end of the box, where they are pivotally connected to a gate, 9, at or about the middle portion of such gate. The latter is arranged to move vertically in a slot or channel, It), in the floor of the box. The weight of the gate and the acting distance of the levers 7 are such that the gate will somewhat more than counterbalance the nest. When the hen enters the latter, however, the nest will at once sink slightly, raising the gate and closing the entrance end of the box 1, thereby shutting out all intruders until such time as the hen leaves the nest. \Vhen empty, the latter supports the gate in such an inclined position as to facilitate the entrance of the fowl.

The bearings of the levers 7 are all open, and the parts may thereby be readily and quickly separated or assembled.

\Vhat I claim is 1. In a hens nest, the combination of the inclosing-box having a transverse slot in its bottom wall, a nest-box pivoted at its rear end portion to the iuclosing-box, levers fulcrumed intermediate their ends to the inclosing-box and pivotally connected at their rear ends to the forward portion of the nest-box, and a front gate sliding and swinging in the bottom slot of the inclosing-box and pivoted between its upper and lower ends to the front ends of the levers, substantially as described.

2. In a hens nest, the combination, with a nest-box pivotally supported at or near one end, of levers having open bearings which e11- gage trunnions at the other end of said nestbox, a gate to the middle portion of which the ends of said levers are pivotally connected, and a rigid strip of flooring having a slot or channel in which said gate moves, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ILLIAM IV. RHODES.

\Vitnesses:

E. F. HARDIN, S. A. HENTON. 

